City Initiative News

Hold up! Let’s Take a Break from Social Life

Registration date03/02/2020WriterSMGviews7308

Hold up!
Let’s Take a Break from Social Life Social Distancing Campaign
to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 Please keep the following rules for 2 weeks : 1. Refrain from going outdoors and avoid physical
contact with others. 2. Keep in touch with people by using social media
measures instead of meeting them personally. 3. Keep your personal hygiene by washing your hands
and wearing a mask at all time. ※ This campaign is based on the recommendations of the COVID-19 Countermeasures Committee (Feb. 29)
and the Korean Medical Association (Feb. 28). Before visiting the hospital, please call : 1330 / 1345 / 120 Seoul Metropolitan Disaster
and Safety Countermeasures
Headquarters

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will implement its social distancing campaign in response to COVID-19, which has been increasing rapidly and difficult to predict.

The effectiveness of the social distancing campaign was proven positive through cases such as traffic control, complete closures of cultural and sports facilities, promotion of online-oriented businesses, keeping of mutual distance, and switch to online courses for schools. In addition to complete blockage of local spreading through impeccable disinfections, citizens must stay one step ahead in protecting themselves and others through social distancing.

Seoul will operate four strategies to maximize the effect of the campaign :

① Increased participation of the campaign in all social fields
The SMG will wholly cooperative with all civil organizations to take the lead in concentrated execution of the social distancing campaign. A majority of large enterprises, such as Samsung and LG, have extended implementation of telecommuting and flextime to do their part for social distancing. Service providers like Shinhan Bank are currently operating a rotational telecommuting system.

② Policies with no gap or blind spots
The SMG will provide active support through supplementary measures to solve problems that may surface upon the immediate enactment of the campaign. To make sure that there are no blind spots, the SMG will make more close and careful inspections, prioritize creating a basis for the active launching of the social distancing campaign in the private sector, and upkeep the care of vulnerable groups as well as execute thorough disinfections of COVID-19.

③ Simultaneous nation-wide implementation by building a local and national level cooperative system
Seoul will not be alone in promoting the campaign, as the city will promote a simultaneous and nation-wide execution of a mutually cooperative system with the national government and other autonomous bodies. There are no administrative restrictions for national disasters as in the cases of Daegu/Gyeongsangbuk-do for the COVID-19 outbreak, which have been the turning point for spiked local infections and national epidemic, and maximized effects can be anticipated only with a simultaneous and nation-wide implementation of this campaign.

④ Campaign with citizens and local communities, and support program for “self-quarantined individuals”
Effectiveness results from the active practice of citizens themselves. The SMG will actively take part to positively publicize the campaign to citizens and local communities. The SMG will launch the public campaign under the catchphrase, “Hold up! Let’s Take a Break from Social Life.”

The rules for the 2-week social distancing campaign are as follows.
1. Refrain from going outdoors and avoid physical contact with others.
2. Keep in touch with people by using social media measures instead of meeting them personally.
3. Keep your personal hygiene by washing your hands and wearing a mask

The SMG will extensively implement the public participation campaign to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The SMG will also hold further campaigns through public participation to share citizens’ ideas and know-how for practicing “social distancing” in everyday life.